"Due to the lack of a quorum, parliament speaker Nabih Berri
has postponed today's session to elect the president of the
republic to Thursday, May 22," the parliament said in a statement.

Following the session, MP Sami Gemayel, of Lebanese Kataeb Bloc,
called, in a press conference, to announce a state of emergency at the
House of Representatives and hold a session every day, as of today and
till the end of the constitutional deadline, so as to elect a President
for the country.

"There is no such thing as absolute vacuum and there are a
number of deputies who intentionally disrupt the election of a new
president," Gemayel said, adding that the one-week period was too
long and asked Berri to hold another Parliament session soon.

He also said that "Deputies who did not show up today do not
want the elections to happen," adding that "this is the only
reason behind their absence, hence their disruption of quorum."
Only 73 deputies attended today's session at the House of
Parliament, while it is required that two-thirds of the parliament
members attend in order to hold the session. (end) ah.ma